Bridging the Gap between Your Brand and Your Buyers

Overheard on a recent marketing field trip

Business Operator
I thought we were going out to see my buyers, my ideal customers.

Guide
And that’s why we’re here. Take a look over there. See that cliff on the other side of the canyon?

Business Operator
I see it. What are those little creatures moving around over there? They look like ants.

Guide
Those are your buyers.

Business Operator
Why are my buyers wa-a-a-a-y over there?

Guide
This gap represents the virtual distance between you and your ideal customers. Relative to how close you could be, this is how far away you are from them right now.

Business Operator
I think I’m going to be sick.

Guide
Feel free to use the marketing sickness bag in the glove compartment.

Business Operator
Tell me. Do I look as small to them as they look to me?

Guide
Pretty much. Would you like to get a little closer to them?

Business Operator
I’d like to build a bridge over this gap and get right next to them.

Guide
Good! That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Pull up a rock and have a seat. Here’s what you need to do…

The Business Operator sat in rapt attention as the guide spent the rest of the day explaining how to build a bridge across the gap. I’ll summarize for you. It won’t be as much fun to read as this dialogue, but it will take less of your time.

Building the bridge

To begin building a bridge that will connect you with your buyers, construct a tower on each side of the gap. From these towers the cables connecting all elements of the bridge will be suspended. But these are no ordinary bridge towers.

Tower 1: Buyer Persona

On the buyer’s side, we will build the Buyer Persona tower using insights that identify:

Events or changes in circumstance that make buyers realize they need the product or service you provide

How many other solution providers they consider

Research they conduct before making a decision

How many other people are involved in the decision

Outcomes that would represent a success to them

Reasons they buy from you

Barriers that keep them from choosing your solution

Steps the buyer takes (buyer’s journey) in crossing the bridge to you

Tower 2: Brand Position

On your side, you will construct a Brand Position tower that shows all your buyers — wa-a-a-a-y over there — why you should be their first choice. The building blocks of your brand position will include:

How you are different from and better than your competition in ways that appeal to your buyers

What you do better than anyone else

Essence of the unique emotional benefits and rational justifications for doing business with you

The promise you make to every customer

Your value proposition

A one-paragraph positioning statement that clearly states what your company stands for, whom it serves, and why your ideal customer prefers to do business with you

The visual and textual representations of your brand (logo/tagline)

Once you’ve built these two towers, two extraordinary thing will happen:

While many people on the other side will continue to look teeny-tiny, you will see your ideal customers clearly. They will be fully in focus and approachable.

Your buyers will see your brand standing out from your competition, thereby clarifying their choice and making it more likely that they will choose your company.

But what about the rest of the bridge?

True, two towers alone do not a bridge make. Something has to span the gap and connect the two towers.

That’s what content is for

Content comes in as many forms and platforms as there are cables on a suspension bridge – blogs, videos, articles, podcasts, newsletters, games, ebooks, white papers, etc. – but its intent is always to strategically align brand goals with buyer needs, thereby bridging the gap between them in order to inform, promote, and persuade.

Content is the reason people find you on Google, why they go to your site, and why they take the time to learn about your brand, products, and services before they are ready to speak with a salesperson.

Content is the bridge between your brand and your buyers, built on the twin towers of buyer personas and brand position.

If your company hasn’t built a content bridge to your best customers, isn’t it time? If you need help, call me at 727-235-2841, or drop me a line.